S1 and S2 controller on MacOS

Thanks a lot! That worked!

So the controllers keeps a record of devices they have been connected to and tries to find them when started?! A write ups on how Sonos system works would be useful when setting up.

The sonos controller App is a little like a TV ‘remote’, it is just used to control the Sonos speakers. The App can be connected to any sonos system on the same WiFi network/LAN subnet that the mobile (controller) device is connected to.

The system information and settings etc. are held on each of the Sonos speakers/hardware. So if ALL speakers in a system were ever factory reset, all information would be lost. So it rarely pays (if ever) to reset every Sonos device, unless perhaps selling the complete Sonos system. A factory reset of any speaker/hardware in fact, is usually a ‘last resort’ option.

Not individual devices, but systems (known as ‘households’ in Sonos parlance, and identified by a unique ‘household ID’).  Of course, at any one time, a system will consist of a particular collection of devices.

As Ken says, factory resetting speakers is generally a Bad Thing, but resetting a controller app is harmless.  Resetting an app does little more than cause it to forget the household ID(s) to which it has connected.  Once it has connected to a system it will default to connecting to that system if it finds it, and only look for another system if it doesn’t find it.

That has all been true forever.  The S1/S2 thing has led to some oddities, as you would have thought that if an S2 app found an S2 system it would connect to it and be done with it.  But it seems that in some circumstances it just can’t resist offering to upgrade an S1 system instead.

Anyway, following the steps I outlined seems to give you a clean slate, after which it should be OK.